Columbia Asia, a private healthcare company owned by a U.S.-based investment fund International Columbia USA LLC, will open its 12th hospital in India in the technology hub of Bengaluru this month and plans to increase its presence in the senior care segment, Nandakumar Jairam, chairman and CEO, said in an interview.
“This is the fifth facility in Bangalore and is our largest in India,” Dr. Jairam said. “We are an arm of the parent company and we are incorporated in India. The experience of building this hospital comes from setting [up] 11 others in India. It provides super-speciality and tertiary care services.”
India is expected to rank among the top three healthcare markets in terms of incremental growth by 2020, according to a report by India Brand Equity Foundation. In 2015, the Indian healthcare sector became the fifth-largest employer and the sector is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.9% to reach $280 billion by 2020.
Rising income levels, an ageing population, growing health awareness and a changing attitude towards preventive healthcare is expected to boost healthcare services demand in the future, according to the report.
Old age homes
“Investors in Columbia... are looking at old-age homes. It is going to happen very shortly. Serene Senior Care, has been acquired,” Dr. Jairam said.
“A new company has been incorporated. Preventive and curative care will be taken up by Columbia Asia for senior citizens. Living space will be provided by Serene. It is in the process of being set up. Bangalore is one such region.”
International Columbia USA., bought Serene in March for an undisclosed sum. Serene operates four senior housing communities in south India in Chennai, Puducherry and Coimbatore.
“As a hospital, the service we provide is the key differentiator. We have chosen doctors of exceptional quality and excellence. Columbia Asia believes in appropriate investment in technology,” Dr. Jairam said. “The catheterisation laboratory we have is one of its kind in the country. Philips has invested in this lab for the first time in India. There are six emergency operating theatres and a gastrointestinal centre. We will add vascular surgery very shortly,” he said. “The percentage of ICU beds are 30% of the overall” 206 beds.
‘Growing clusters’
“The next hospital will be in Pune,” Dr. Jairam said. “We believe in growing in clusters and we already have a presence in the Pune region. We will identify new clusters as we grow.”
Columbia Asia has a 100-bed facility close to Kharadi in Pune. The Columbia Asia Group is owned by more than 150 private equity firms, fund management organisations and individual investors, according to the company’s website.
“The parent firm has so far invested ₹1,600 crore in India,” Jasdeep Singh, who took over as the COO in March, said. “The cost of building a bed in the hospital works out to about ₹1.5 crore, including all the equipment supporting it.”
